Fortunately, however, this was merely the scenario being enacted in one of the mandatory simulations or drills which must be held in order to guarantee smooth coordination in emergency situations at all airports in the EU, according to European and International Civil Aviation Organization regulations.

In the mock-up which started at 12.00 midday, the incident involving an A319 aircraft was spotted from the control tower, and 2 of the 55 people on board (51 passengers and 4 crew) died instantly while all of the others were injured. The airport’s operations centre was notified immediately and a general emergency was declared, at which point emergency services inside and outside the airport were notified and activated.

Also taking part were staff of Ryanair and Azul Handling, alongside Protección Civil, the Town Halls of Murcia, Torre Pacheco and Fuente Álamo, the regional health service, the fire brigade, the Guardia Civil, the Policía Nacional and Cruz Roja. The roles of the victims, meanwhile, were played by students at the “Hespérides” secondary school in Cartagena.